DOLGELLAU’S Elfyn Evans and his Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team will encounter new terrain when Rally Islas Canarias plays host to a round of the FIA World Rally Championship for the first time on 24-27 April.

The island of Gran Canaria, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of northwest Africa, provides the venue for round four of the 2025 season and what can be considered the first pure asphalt event of the year. It will also be the first Spanish round of the WRC held since 2022.

TGR-WRT makes the trip leading the manufacturers’ championship by 26 points following victories in each of the opening three rounds, and with Elfyn Evans atop the drivers’ standings by 36 points following his back-to-back wins in Sweden and Kenya.

Sébastien Ogier returns to action for the first time since his Rallye Monte-Carlo victory in January to form a full line-up of five GR YARIS Rally1 cars, with the trio of Ogier, Evans and Kalle Rovanperä nominated to compete for manufacturers’ points.

Evans said: “We’ve had a good run of rallies to start the season but it changes nothing really for me in terms of approach: we just want to go and have a good rally and achieve the best result possible. In terms of character, we can expect the stages to be generally very clean and quite twisty.

“The majority of asphalt rallies we’ve had in the championship over recent years have been more on the dirtier side and we’ve missed the variety of a proper racing-style rally like this.

“With very little cutting, road position shouldn’t have a huge bearing, so I don’t think it will be much of an advantage to be running first if at all; I suspect it should be similar conditions for everybody and a fair fight.”

The event is known for twisting roads that are constantly climbing or descending the mountainous terrain, and often lined by barriers on one side and rock on the other.

An abrasive surface, constructed partly from volcanic lava, should provide high and consistent grip levels but can also make tyre wear a consideration, while the island location has the potential to bring changeable weather conditions.

The rally is based in the island’s capital city Las Palmas in the north-east, with the service park located adjacent to the Gran Canaria Stadium, while the stages are held all around the island.

After shakedown and a ceremonial start on Thursday, the rally begins for real on Friday when a trio of stages across the centre of the island are run twice either side of mid-day service.

A similar format is followed for most of Saturday, when the action is centred in the north and concludes with a super special that runs partly inside a basketball arena.

The rally concludes on Sunday with five stages to the south near Maspalomas, which hosts the podium ceremony.

Deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen said: “The team is looking forward to a new challenge at Rally Islas Canarias. Even though it hasn’t been in the WRC before, it’s actually a rally that I was able to drive six times myself in the past and it will be nice to go back there. The roads are very good to drive and I’m sure that the drivers will enjoy it.”